There are a number of ways to terminate construction contracts. Spec builders have it easy — their contracts typically allow them to terminate problem customers at their own discretion by notifying the customer and refunding what has been paid. They can then sell the house to another buyer. This...

Suppose your lead carpenter calls and says there has been an accident: One of your employees cut his finger off — and by the way, he had alcohol on his breath when it happened. What do you do? If you’re like most contractors, you fire the employee and then say to yourself, “Whew! I’m glad that’s...

Earlier this year, a friend of mine had an interesting conversation with a young man who was subcontracting for a GC. The contractor owed the young man a pile of money and my friend was concerned. But the young man assured him there was nothing to worry about, because the contractor was a pal and...

A short time ago, a remodeler hired me to solve a dispute he had with a customer. He had been building an addition, and when he began framing the walls he discovered that the foundation slab was out of square. The concrete sub owned up to the mistake, and at no charge to the customer fixed the...

One question I hear fairly often from builders is, “Can a contract with a client be enforced if it’s not in writing?” The short answer is yes, it can. Back in the days when I worked at the legal shark shop, we enforced unwritten contracts all the time — though we sometimes ran into problems.

Contractors tend to avoid calling for legal help. Partly this is because they're used to solving their own problems, and partly it's because they don't want to rack up attorney's fees. But certain circumstances — let's call them legal emergencies — absolutely require immediate legal counsel.